Saudi Telecom asks banks to postpone deadline on Turk Telekom debt

ANKARA: Saudi Telecom Company has asked banks to extend a payment deadline in debt talks related to Turk Telekom, sources said, after the Turkish firm's parent missed its third straight repayment on a $4.75 billion loan.

Saudi Telecom's (STC) request on behalf of struggling Oger Telecom is now under consideration by Oger's creditors and the Turkish Treasury, the three sources said, declining to be identified because the information is not yet public.

It comes as Oger Telecom, in which STC owns a 35 percent stake, missed a September 2017 payment of $290 million on the loan, one of the three sources said. Oger missed similar payments in September 2016 and March 2017.

It could not be immediately verified whether STC requested more time for Oger to repay all of its late instalments or just part of the amount.

No one was available to comment at Oger's offices in Turkey. STC declined to comment. Officials at Turkey's Prime Ministry, Transport Ministry and Treasury were not available for comments.

It was reported in August that STC was in the lead to buy Oger's 55 percent holding in Turk Telekom.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) pulled up Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for warning subscribers of certain plans that their SIM cards would be deactivated if they do not recharge their pre-paid accounts though these subscribers had the minimum required balance.